Prineville and Crook County are fast becoming solar energy hot spots, with projects ranging from a government initiative involving 20 to 30 buildings to the Facebook data center that draw on a growing network of solar designers, installers and manufacturers based in Central Oregon.

The network includes several Bend-based companies, including solar contractor Sunlight Solar of Bend; PV Trackers, which manufacturers sun-tracking systems for solar panels; and PV Powered, owned by Advanced Energy Industries, which makes solar inverters and electrical panels that turn solar energy into electricity for use in homes and businesses.

That homegrown technology, matched with solar panels manufactured by Hillsboro-based Solar World, has been installed by Sunlight Solar on the 99,000-watt solar system at the Facebook data center, the 8,000-watt solar system at the Crook County/Central Oregon Community College Computer and Education Center in Prineville and at the 150,000-watt solar system at the Bend Broadband data vault.

Now, Prineville and Crook County are adding yet another big solar project to the list.

Currently, the city and county are joining together to bring solar power to 20 to 30 government buildings in an attempt to reduce electrical costs for lighting, heating, cooling and operating computers and other equipment.

Mike McCabe, Crook County judge, said they are preparing to go out to bid for contractors and solar installers to add solar systems to provide part or possibly all of the power for the government buildings, and possibly streetlights.

McCabe said the electric bills amount to about $40,000 a year in Crook County. But a study conducted in 2010 by the city and county found that adding solar power to government buildings would significantly reduce those costs. "We think we can cut that down substantially and maybe eliminate (them)," he said.

At Facebook, a solar power grid added during construction of the first Facebook data center is becoming a design model for future Facebook data centers built across the country, said Tom Furlong, the company's director of site operations. The Facebook solar system provides energy for the site's office building, not for the center's data servers.

Paul Israel, president of Sunlight Solar, said getting the contract to install advanced solar systems using locally-made components has enhanced the reputation of Central Oregon's solar energy expertise. "Because of the large volume of work we have done in Central Oregon, large contractors have faith in small local companies to do the work," he said.

It's also put people to work. Kyle Edgren, a journeyman electrician, came to work for Sunlight Solar about two years ago after he was laid off from a construction job wiring houses and apartment buildings for 15 years for Prineville Electric. He said he feels lucky he found a job in a growing industry like solar energy.

Israel said the 408-panel solar system the company installed at Facebook is the largest solar system installed so far in Prineville. "Facebook is a leader in this community with a solar system at 99,000 watts. The technology of what we did at Facebook is cutting edge, and it is all home-grown," Israel said.

Furlong said solar power was added to the first Prineville data center after construction was under way. Adding solar to the site came after a Facebook energy efficiency technician suggested the company install a car-charging station. "I wish I could say (solar power) was planned at the very beginning, because it would have cost a lot less if we had included it in the original design," Furlong said.

He said adding it after the data center was under construction wound up costing 30 percent more than it would have cost if the building had been designed to include a solar grid to provide a portion of the power.

"None of us were really clear about how you add on-site solar power into a structured system," Furlong said.

He said he learned a fair number of lessons about solar power installations during the process of adding it to the center after construction was well under way.

The company had to overcome problems such as how to connect a solar system, which generates around 480 volts of DC power, to the 120-volt AC power meters supplying the data center office. It also had to rethink where it would put the solar panels after Israel pointed out that the afternoon shade from the building would block the sun and cut down too much on solar energy generated by the panels.

Furlong said the company opted for the office section of the building, placing the panels on a pad at the back of the structure where the sun shines longer every day. But that option cost more because it meant drilling holes through concrete walls to reroute the wiring, building a concrete pad on that side of the building and fencing off the area to keep people away from the danger of electrical shock.

"The biggest lesson learned was if the facility was designed to incorporate it in the first place it would be a lot less expensive," Furlong said.

Facebook's solar system features the newest technology in tracking the sun, made locally by PV Trackers, Israel said.

"We used dual tracking out there. It tracks the sun from the moment it rises in the morning until it sets at night," Israel said. "It tracks the sun from the high summer solstice to the low winter solstice."

Israel said most solar systems of the past used fixed solar panel designs facing south, which captured sunlight on portions of the panels as the sun rises and sets.

"At Facebook we are actually tracking the sun as it moves across the sky with rotating rows of solar panels," Israel said, adding that the panels rotate east and west, as well as up and down, to track the sun's movement.